So it’s finally that time of the year when my Mum seems to care and nurture the refrigerator more than me, not to mention here how that pretty much happens all the time, except the refrigerator isn’t always the reason... Yes, it’s the post Qurbaani/ Eid-ul-Azha season! Muslims all over the world perform the sacred act of sacrificing animals in the way of God, the meat of which is to be distributed amongst the poor, relatives and friends. Of course, you are allowed to consume one-third of this meat.
So it’s finally that time of the year when my Mum seems to care and nurture the refrigerator more than me, not to mention here how that pretty much happens all the time, except the refrigerator isn’t always the reason... Yes, it’s the post Qurbaani/ Eid-ul-Azha season!
Muslims all over the world perform the sacred act of sacrificing animals in the way of God, the meat of which is to be distributed amongst the poor, relatives and friends. Of course, you are allowed to consume one-third of this meat. This exchange of meat ends up creating a stock of mutton, beef, lamb or camel meat, enough to feed the whole nation (not literally) for at least a month. Not all, but many of us indulge in stocking this meat for future use.
Fast forward to 10 days post Eid ... by now, all of us have refused the chore of cleaning out the fridge ample times. I faced the same dilemma and took to using my external memory (Google) before Mum decided to kick me out of the house; here are the top finds to make the task less excruciating and more doable with a twist:
1. The one thing I’ve learnt the hard way is that being lazy in the beginning is always a bad idea, so to start cleaning, the first thing to do is emptying all the contents of your fridge. If you try to move things around and clean then not only do the nooks and crannies are difficult to reach, it is impossible to sanitize and make the shelves squeaky clean.
2. Usually, cleaning out portion by portion helps; compartmentalizing your fridge will help you sort the same kind of food items together i.e. meat, veggies or sauces, etc. Sometimes I wish just like my car, my refrigerator had four doors too, so that I could do it one portion at a time! Life would have been so much happier and fulfilling if I had a four-door refrigerator where I could organize each compartment to my liking. Cleaning would be so hassle-free! Coming back from my day-dreaming, refrigerator part first and freezer later makes life somewhat easier.
3. Taking out the removable shelves and drawers in the fridge and soaking them in lukewarm soapy water helps to dissolve food particles sticking on to the surface. So it’s a good idea to let the pieces soak for 30 minutes while you are cleaning the rest of the fridge.
4. Using harsh disinfectants like bleach to clean your fridge is a bad idea. Mild dish wash works best if you plan to clean it with sponge and water later. What I like best is to use a water and vinegar solution; vinegar is a natural mild acid and the good thing is you won’t have to wipe it off later.
5. Another thing you can do to make your life super easy is to throw out any and everything which has expired. This seems obvious, duh! But, in reality, you’d be amazed to see how much stuff you’ve hoarded up in your fridge without realizing it is close to expiry. Trashing expired or moldy things saves other food items from getting contaminated.
6. Now that you’ve followed the above five steps and gone through the mundane motion of cleaning and keeping your fridge up to date, you can afford to laze around.
7. The one trick that can surely keep you away from this hassle for a while is lining the shelves and drawers of the fridge with cling film, plastic sheets or foil. This will help in making the cleaning job less rigorous next time. You will simply have to discard the used sheet and put in place a new one as and when necessary.
Now that my rants about cleaning my fridge are over I think I should really go and get to work. My fridge isn’t going to clean itself, sadly, no matter how many cool hacks I know...
